Rosco 3443

Overview

Rosco 3443 is a lighting filter sheet (gel) from the Cinegel series by manufacturer Rosco. The official product designation is Quarter Straw (1/4 CTS). It belongs to Rosco's Straw series ("CTS" = Color Temperature Straw), a family of yellowish-amber conversion filters that lower the color temperature of a light source (i.e., make the light warmer).

Compared to the classic CTO (Color Temperature Orange) series, the Straw variant produces a slightly yellower, less reddish hue. Rosco explicitly describes 3443 as a "yellower (or less red) version of 1/4 CTO." The "1/4" strength (Quarter) is the weakest common gradation alongside Full Straw (3441) and 1/8 Straw (3444); it causes a subtle warming rather than a strong conversion.

Technical Data

The filter is typically offered as a sheet (standard size approx. 20 × 24 inches) as well as a roll (e.g., 48 inches × 25 ft). Cinegel filters are manufactured on a heat-resistant base material and are deeply dyed so that color and shape remain stable even with heat development from light fixtures.

Set Usage

3443 is placed in front of a light fixture or in filter frames/barn doors to subtly warm up light. Typical applications:

• Making daylight sources (HMI, LED in daylight mode, window light) feel warmer and more inviting, without fully converting them to artificial light.
• Subtle skin tone correction and a "sunnier," straw-yellow character that is often perceived as more pleasant than the orange-heavy CTO look.
• Fine-tuning color temperature when a full or half CTS/CTO would be too strong.

As the yellow rather than reddish cast is characteristic of the Straw series, lighting technicians consciously choose 3443 when they want warmth without the pronounced orange component of a CTO. The filter can be combined with other conversion or diffusion filters; the light loss of around one-third of a stop is minimal and easy to account for in exposure.